1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a disc player with loading and ejecting devices and more particularly, to a disc player provided with loading and ejecting devices by means of a simple machinery mechanism.
2. Description of the Prior Arts
In general, disc players can record information on and/or reproduce information from discs of magnetic or optical type such as an optical video disc, a digital audio disc or a compact disc etc. There are several methods for loading the discs into the player and unloading them therefrom. The disc player of the front loading type wherein a tray having the disc mounted thereon is moved in the horizontal direction and then downward in the vertical direction thereby causing the disc to be mounted above a turntable is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,025,339 (issued to Kanno et al.). A disc loading device used in that of a front loading type is frequently employed. Recently, the disc player continues to be developed, especially the disc player of such a front loading type.
The conventional disc player of the front loading type will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.
FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view for showing a conventional disc player of the front loading type. As shown in the figure, a disc tray 10 has a hexahedron shape where a front portion, a rear portion and a base are opened. Lower ends of side walls 12 thereof are inwardly bent to form cartridge support pieces 14 for supporting the disc cartridge to be inserted thereinto or ejected therefrom. Tray guide rods 16 are formed on the outer surfaces of side walls 12 of disc tray 10. A moving plate 20 is provided with guide grooves 26 and guide rods 28 which are placed on its side walls. Guide rods 16 which are provided on the left and right sidewalls of disc tray 10 can slide along guide groove 38 while being inserted thereinto so that disc tray 10 can be moved into and from the housing. When loading and unloading the disc cartridge carried by disc tray 10 and moving plate 20 on the turntable, guide rods 16 can be slidably moved within and along guide groove 38 formed on the side walls of loading unit B supporting disc tray 10 and moving plate 20. Meanwhile, loading unit B is disposed above a chassis unit A. On the chassis unit A are provided a spindle assembly 23 for rotating the disc mounted thereon and a pickup apparatus for reading and writing information from the disc which is rotated by the spindle assembly with the movement in the radial direction of the minidisc under the minidisc. As shown in FIG. 2, the chassis unit A is disposed over a bottom of the disc player and below the loading unit B. A loading drive system C has a loading motor for driving the loading unit B, a transmittance gear and a moving plate carrying gear between one side of the loading unit A and a housing of the disc player. A power supply unit D for transmitting a driving force to pickup apparatus 24 is disposed at the side opposite to a side where the loading drive system C is disposed. Using the power supply unit D and the loading drive system C, disc tray 10 and moving plate 20 are guided along guide grooves 38 formed in loading unit B in the front loading method to load and unload the disc on the turntable.
However, in the conventional disc player having the above structure, when loading and unloading the disc cartridge on the turntable, the carrying of tray is performed by means of the loading mechanism (provided with the loading motor, the transmittance gear and the moving plate carrying gear) and the moving plate, so that an internal structure of the disc player becomes extremely complicated, and an assembling work performed at a production line can not help but be increased so as to lower productivity. Further, due to heavy and large-sized products, this conventional structure is an obstacle in view of the recent trends that the disc player has become smaller and more compact in size.